#Flashback Friday: The Legend of the ‘aafesburger’—and the Woman Who Created It

The latest Exchange Transitions report in the Exchange Post included an obituary notice for Shizuko K. Nogaj, a Mather Air Force Base grill cook who played a unique role in Exchange history.

In 1983, Nogaj, who went by Susie, created what came to be known as the aafesburger. And yes, its name was all lowercase.

On July 9, 1983, the Exchange held the AAFES Worldwide Hamburger Cook-off in an open-air tent at Fort Bliss. Seven contestants representing five CONUS regions as well as Europe and Pacific regions duked it out for the title of best worldwide hamburger chef. Each of them had to win a regional competition before moving on to the big show.

The contestants took turns cooking hamburgers for 14 judges consisting of active-duty and retired Soldiers and Airmen and family members, who were asked to evaluate each burger on its own merits, not in comparison to the others. In addition to taste, judges scored contestants on the appearance of the burger. Contestants also scored points for showmanship, which included booth appearance, courtesy, skill and service.

Susie Nogaj, winner of the AAFES Worldwide Hamburger Cook-off in 1983 at Fort Bliss.

Before the competition started, Nogaj, who said she didn’t even taste-test her winning recipe, had her own judges. “I tested it out on the kids and my husband,” she told the Exchange Post with a laugh.

Her home test consisted of making three special sauces. “I made the sauces and labeled them number one, two and three,” explained Susie. “My husband and kids chose number one.” That was the one she entered in the competition.

Some of the ingredients in her sauce recipe (which she kept secret) stemmed from her love of food from her native Japan. Bom in Nagoya, Japan, she met her husband, retired Air Force TSG Walter Nogaj, in 1948 in a souvenir shop in Kyushu while visiting an aunt. They were married two years later.

It would have been sooner, she told the Exchange Post, had it not been for the onset of the Korean War. Wartime restrictions complicated the immigration process, and the embassy lost their papers, delaying their marriage another year.

Walter’s military career took Susie and their six children to several assignments in Japan and the United States. While he was assigned to Dover AFB in 1966, she began her career with the Exchange as a grill cook. She began working at the Mather Exchange cafeteria in 1970.

The Sacramento Bee newspaper ran several stories on Nogaj, who qualified for the big cookoff with a “cheesy bacon burger.” According to the Bee, the cookoff disallowed the use of bacon or cheese (talk about burger purism)—contestants could only use a patty, buns, lettuce and tomatoes (seriously, not even pickles?) but were permitted to use any spices or sauces.

A few weeks after her win, Nogaj went on a monthlong tour of Army and Air Force installations in western states including Alaska, teaching Exchange cooks the secret recipe for her burger.

By the end of fiscal 1983, nearly 300,000 had been sold at Exchanges worldwide. It was such a big deal that a Spangdahlem Area fourth grade creative-writing class had a “Legend of the aafesburger” story contest, with prizes provided the Bremerhaven Exchange.

But the aafesburger’s popularity was short-lived. Less than a year after the aafesburger debuted, Burger King joined the Exchange lineup, becoming the organization’s first name-brand burger restaurant.

BK was awarded a contract to open a minimum of 185 Exchange locations. It didn’t take long for the Whopper to whop the aafesburger. As the Exchange focused more on partnering with name-brand restaurants, the aafesburger ended its tasty run.

Nogaj retired from Mather in 1987. She passed away April 16 at age 95.

Susie Nogaj got help with her trophy from Exchange Commander MG Richard D. Murray after Nogaj won AAFES’ Worldwide Hamburger Cook-off in 1983.

SOURCES: Exchange Post archives, Sacramento Bee, Newspapers.com